Paul Finebaum has a blunt explanation for Tennessee’s late-game collapse that Vols fans need to hear
The Tennessee Vols lost a heartbreaker to the South Carolina Gamecocks in Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday.
ESPN’s Paul Finebaum isn’t usually the voice of reason, but he was this week when it comes to Tennessee’s heartbreaking loss to South Carolina.
The Vols were on the verge of putting the game away on Saturday, but a botched fourth-down play gave the Gamecocks new life.
And South Carolina took advantage.
Vols head coach Josh Heupel said after the game that quarterback George MacIntyre made a “misstep” on the fourth-down play.
The feeling is that MacIntyre was supposed to hand the ball off to tight end DaSaahn Brame on the play, but he lost where he was on the field in the moment and just missed the handoff.
I don’t know exactly what MacIntyre was thinking at the time, but it seems like he felt the weight of the moment and the game sped up on him a little bit.
And Finebaum seems to agree.
“Tennessee gave that game away,” said Finebaum on The Matt Barrie Show. “We saw other schools along the way try to give games away. … I’m not a psychiatrist, but the human emotion — there’s so much pressure. We’ve seen Arch Manning and Trinidad Chambliss both make idiotic mistakes, and they’re two of the very best. And you get down to the level of a George MacIntyre at Tennessee, who is good and was on the verge of a really big win, and he manages to give it away.”
Finebaum was a little strong with his words — I’m not sure it’s fair to say “idiotic” — but he hit the nail on the head — there’s so much pressure on these quarterbacks.
And look, I get it. They’re getting paid seven figures to play football. But that money comes with a lot of pressure. They’re still developing as players, yet they’re expected to perform like NFL quarterbacks who are getting paid millions. I don’t know what it’s like to deal with that kind of pressure, but I can’t imagine it’s easy.
It’s tough to play free and loose when you feel the weight of that pressure. It’s a real problem for college quarterbacks and I think it’s a big reason why we’re seeing such inconsistent quarterback play across the sport.
I know fans want results, and I know expectations are high given the money that’s being spent on these players. But I think we’ve gotta show young quarterbacks some grace. They’re dealing with a level of pressure that guys like Peyton Manning didn’t have to face. Peyton was given more room to make mistakes as a young player (in college and in the NFL). Players today don’t get the same benefit.
It’s tough to remember, but these guys are still human. And they deserve to be treated like humans.
